What Time Doesn't Tell
by Leo Marie Octavian
Summary: Nick and Ellis are living in a house in the country, as ordered to by CEDA. Electricity has been restored after the five horrid months of the infection. Time has affected the men, but to what degree?   Slash. NickxEllis.
1. Chapter 1: The Prologue

What Time Doesn't Tell

* * *

It had been another lazy day in the country side of God knows what state. Nick and I were sitting on the brown couch given to us by CEDA, playing a few old video games for the crappy Xbox system we found in the house's attic. It was really old, but then again, I didn't really expect to find a flat-screen TV and an abundance of console games in this house. Hell, I didn't even expect to find that they had already turned the electricity back on. But it sure was nice being able to kill the time by playing games instead of sitting in silence. Nick didn't even mind picking up a controller from time to time.

"Alright, third win!" I shouted, a huge grin breaking out on my face.

But Nick did mind losing games. Especially games that he was good at.

"You're cheating, dumbass." Nick growled, his grip tightening on the black controller.

I chuckled and set my controller down on the end table next to me. "Why would I waste my time with trying to cheat? S'not like I can even get cheat codes, wha' without a computer an' all…" I replied, still smiling.

Nick shook his head, looking down towards the floor. The TV screen was still blaring on about how Player Two had won the game. I made a move to stand up and go turn off the Xbox, knowing that Nick didn't like to play games after he already lost a couple of times.

Halfway through standing up, Nick grabbed my wrist and dragged me back down to the couch, pouncing on top of me. I let out a startled shout as he tried to grab both of my wrists. I fought against him, trying not to laugh at his sudden outburst. Even though his weight was beginning to crush down upon me, and the grip on my left wrist was tightening with each passing tick of the clock mounted on the wall behind us, I still found it within me to chuckle and turn this into something not-so serious.

"You're dead, Overalls." Nick hissed, a smile threatening his lips. I couldn't help it but look up into his eyes as he spoke the nickname he had given me too long ago.

I regretted making eye contact with the ex-conman.

____

_All those painful memories…_

* * *

**AN: **So, I'm starting a new fic because I can not, for the life of me, think of a continuation in my book. This will hopefully just be a side project and I won't get to into it. But hey, I have a decent plot bunny, so maybe it'll be good. I don't know. Uh... What else to say... Oh right. So this fic is gonna be set up in a very interesting manner. This is the prologue, set in the present (2010?). After this, it's during the zombie apocalypse, in the past. It'll change between Nick and Ellis' perspective later on, but for now, Ellis is the main star. So yeah. Just an insight on how this is gonna be set up. Anywho... Maybe leave a review later on down the road if you're interested in reading this. I have absolutely no idea on how good I'll be doing, since I'll be beta-less.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Left 4 Dead 2, CEDA, Nick, or Ellis.


	2. Chapter 2: The Vannah

Chapter Two: The Vannah

This was bullshit. This whole this was just a bunch of bullshit. There's _no way _I was in the middle of a goddamn zombie apocalypse. I held onto the fire axe even tighter, trying to figure out where the hell I should go. There were just too many dead people… Too many people getting up off the ground and running around, eyes turned black and skin turned gray. They looked sickly. What could've caused this…?

"Kid, watch out!" Someone shouted from behind me. I turned to face them, when all of the sudden a massive weight crashed down onto my shoulders, and I stumbled back. Three slick, knobby fingers forced themselves into my mouth, another hand grabbing the top of my head. The stubby nails seemed to dig into my skull, even with my hat and hair in the way. It was so goddamn painful.

"What the fu- _GET THIS THING OFFA ME._" I howled through the fingers jerking my head around. I dropped my axe and tried to grab at the thing riding on top of my head, steering not only my head, but my _whole body _around. Maniacal laughter filled my ears, swimming in my head. I tried to tear the fingers out of my mouth, but it didn't work. Instead, I just got a taste of the fingers, and dear _God _the taste was disgusting. _And what was that thing pressing into the back of my neck? Oh _God…

Suddenly, the weight disappeared and the fingers slipped out of my mouth. I turned around hastily and looked at the ground, seeing what kind of a revolting thing would try to dry hump me. I had to hold my stomach when I saw the little red freak lying on the ground, dead. Its skin had been practically torn from its mouth, its teeth flashing a disgusting smile. Splotches of red hair curled around the back of its head, just making it look even creepier. I didn't even bother to look at the rest of it…

"Shit, are you okay?" The same person from before asked, now standing right behind me. His voice was kind of deep, a little husky. There was an accent on it, but I didn't quite recognize it. I guess never leaving Savannah would cause that kind of problem.

"I guess so," I said, trailing off. The moldy taste was still in my mouth, and I was getting a little dizzy from it slowly settling into my tongue and taste glands. I turned to face the person who had saved me, my mind not really set in place. However, when I saw the man, I could've sworn I started seeing stars.

He had slicked back dark brown hair, and an almost gleaming white suit. He had on a pale blue dress shirt underneath the jacket, kinda like the color of my eyes, the top two buttons unbuttoned. He looked calm and collected, as if this whole situation with the zombies wasn't happening. I locked eyes with him and saw those jade green pools. There was no way a guy like him had such… _Gorgeous eyes. _

...

He turned and began walking away, his hands gripping onto a pistol tightly. I noticed the holster on his side, the brown leather contrasting with the white suit. Shaking my head, I followed him towards the Vannah, not noticing the bright flames dancing inside the windows on the floors above.

"Hey, so uh," I said shyly as we entered the stairwell. "What's your name?"

"Nick." The man replied blandly. He was a step behind me, partially from him letting me go ahead of him. I didn't know why, but I figured he probably wasn't all that concerned about the matter.

"Well, hey there Nick. I'm Ellis, but you can call me El if you like. Well, El kinda sounds like a girl name, but if tha's whatchu prefer to call me by, I guess El would be okay-"

"Hey kid?" Nick said, kind of in a questioning tone.

"Yeah?"

"Shut the hell up."

I closed my mouth almost instantly. I didn't know why Nick being bothered with me talking bothered me, but I guess it did. Then again, I didn't really want to bother the only other person I was with. I still wanted to have someone to talk to. We travelled up the rest of the thirty flights of stairs in silence. Nick was still behind me when we reached the roof, which was something that almost relieved me. Then again, he didn't really have anywhere to go, and there wasn't anything that could've taken him and killed him.

"So where's the chopper supposed t'be?" I asked, looking around the deserted roof. There was pretty much nothing here, except for some spare clothing scattered about and four obnoxious red health packs on a wooden table by the door. The sun was trailing down over the skyline, beginning the time of the setting sun. Nick was leaning over, his hands on his knees. He was breathing at a controlled rate, but he sounded a little out of breath when he spoke.

"Supposed to be here," Nick replied, his voice slightly wheezing. He obviously wasn't used to practically running up eight floors' worth of stairs in less than thirty minutes. _Had it really been that close to sundown? _

"Well what are we gonna do?" I said, trying not to sound too desperate for an answer. That feeling of missing Keith was beginning to sink in, and I was doing all that I could to resist running back out to the streets and finding another evac station. Keith _told me _he was gonna get rescued. He said it himself. He said, _"listen to me El, we gonna get outta this alive. You an' me," _But now we weren't together on this roof. Where was he?

"We wait for a while," Nick answered, his voice only slightly more gentle than it was in his earlier remarks. "Maybe if we're lucky, the helicopters will be here before tomorrow."

I nodded to myself, agreeing with Nick's plan. It seemed like a reasonable thing to do. Just wait a while. Maybe they were just dropping everyone off and would be here tomorrow. Yeah, that sounded right. We just needed to give it time. Nick had sat down against the room where the staircase was within. He leaned his head back and closed his eyes, lying in a state of peace. He looked so untroubled now, so contradicting from what expressions had slipped onto his face earlier. _What was your story, Nick? Who are you? _

I sat down next to him and hugged my knees to my chest, resting my head on top. And who knows, maybe some rest would be good…

* * *

**AN: **Here's chapter two. I guess I'm counting the prologue as a chapter? O.o Uhh... I hope this is a good start to this. I really don't feel that confident in rewriting the events of the game, but hell. I'll do it just for poops and giggles. Mmkay, so yeah! Chapter two. Leave a review if you wish, I won't yell at you.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Left 4 Dead 2, The Vannah, Nick, or Ellis.


	3. Chapter 3: Of Newsreporters and Coaches

Chapter Three: Of Coaches and Newsreporters

Sometime before my eyes opened, Nick had gotten up and started pacing around the roof of the building, obviously restless. I could understand how stressful all of this is, but he just seemed so much more... Angrier. I didn't know what to make of it.

"Helicopter never came?" I asked, even though I pretty much knew the answer anyway.

Nick just gave me a relatively dirty look as if to say "_what do you think, dumbshit?_"

I didn't say anything else, but instead adjusted my position so I was sitting a little more comfortably. My neck felt a little sore, and my knees ached as I stretched my legs out. That was when I realized it was a little, actually _a lot _darker than it was earlier. In fact, it was pretty much nighttime. How long had I slept? No, even better yet, how _could _I have slept? I thought for sure I'd be too paranoid to actually get some sleep...

"Hey Nick?"

The older man just sighed. I didn't know what to make of that reply, but since he wasn't yelling at me, I figured I could continue.

"H-how long was I asleep?" I asked.

Nick stopped pacing, turned to look at me, and shrugged. "Hell if I know. I don't even know what time it is."

My lips tightened as I frowned ever so slightly. Not even a day into this mess and we had already lost track of time? What next? We lose track of where we are?

No, that couldn't happen. We're gonna be staying up here, right on this roof, waiting for the chopper.

"Oh, and hey kid?" Nick's voice picked up.

"Yeah?" I said, perhaps a little too eagerly.

"Don't ever fall asleep on my shoulder again." Nick hissed, eyes squinting. I was a little hurt by this. I didn't have control over my head in my sleep. Why was Nick yelling at me for that?

I didn't ask questions, not feeling too eager to start up whatever you'd call a conversation with the man. Yet the silence crept into my head and began eating my thoughts, destroying whatever kind of peaceful moment this should have been. My eyes followed Nick as he continued pacing around the roof, face buried in his hands. Minutes of watching turned into hours, and soon I was feeling nauseous watching the man just walk, and walk. I shut my eyes, blocking out the rising sun. Maybe the helicopter would be here before too long. It shouldn't have taken it too long for them to drop off the people and come back, shouldn't it?

Just as I was about to completely snap and ask Nick another question, I heard voices coming from the stairwell. Had other people made it?

"Damnit Rochelle, we better be almost there," a man's voice, an elderly one at that, snapped, echoing off the walls.

"We are, this is the last floor." A feminine voice replied, sounding just a ittle bit stressed out.

The door was thrown open to reveal two African-Americans, one being a man probably in his forties, the other being a young woman wearing a pink Depche Mode shirt. Immediately, Nick's pistol was raised to the newcomer's, his face suddenly expressionless.

"'Ay man, put that gun down. We're just a couple'a survivors." The man said, his deep voice rumbling out with a tone of fear to it, even though he held a baseball bat in his hands. Although, I guess a baseball bat wouldn't do so much in the ways of protecting himself against a bullet.

Nick held the pistol up, just for a while longer, before lowering it. Instantly, the other two seemed more than a little relieved. The woman set down a black bag she had on her back, casting wary glances between Nick and I as she opened it up.

"I'm Rochelle, and this here's Coach," she said as she pulled out a couple of pistols. Nothing too fancy, probably just your basic self-defense pistol. "I brought these pistols from downstairs in the lobby. They were just lying around, completely abandoned. Figured if there was no one else around, at least Coach and I could double up." She trailed off, handing one to me and offering a second to Nick. He took it hesitantly, as if it was going to blow up in his face.

"Thanks, Rochelle." I said quietly.

"Your welcome, sweetie." The woman replied with the same lowered voice. Meanwhile, Coach and Nick had broken down into a glaring contest, obviously not going to be getting along anytime soon.

"So, we've told you about ourselves. Who would you be?" Coach said none too gently, never breaking eye contact with Nick.

I opened my mouth to speak, quite eagerly, but Nick started talking first.

"Name's Nick. That's Ellis." Was all he said.

I let my jaw slacken, and didn't go to further explain ourselves. Obviously Nick didn't want them knowing much.

"Where ya'll headin' to?" Coach asked.

This time, I made sure I spoke up before Nick did. "We was waitin' for the chopper to get 'ere. News said they'd pick up from the roof of the Vannah." I explained, ignoring whatever look Nick was giving me.

"Well, seeing _I'm _the news, I don't think the chopper is here, nor will it be," Rochelle said, killing our hopes for the chopper. Well, I was almost immediately crushed. Nick didn't look surprised whatsoever.

"Tell me something I don't know." The man said dryly, obviously annoyed with the girl.

Rochelle smirked, looking down at her double pistols. "There's another evac station at Liberty Mall."

My eyes widened and Nick looked a little more interested now. Of course, that could've just been a play of the morning sunlight on his face. _Those jade green eyes were so damn pretty in the sunlight..._

"So what are you two doing up here?" Nick asked, even though it was clear he wasn't all that interested in their responses.

"Um," Rochelle said, mostly under her breath. Nick grinned deviously. The newsreporter looked up at the man and sneered, both of them realizing that the man had just won some sort of mental fight between the two. This wasn't going to be a particularly fun trip...

* * *

AN: Eww. Rochelle... I didn't really like this chapter. Felt weird. Anyway, it's gonna start skipping around a lot from now on, just so you know... And yeah! Enjoy.


	4. Chapter 4: A Respectable Man needs Cola

Chapter Four: A Respectable Man needs his Cola

We had managed to escape the burning Vannah, seeing now that the building was about to collapse on itself the moment we exited the saferoom door in the lobby. I tried to catch a glance out of the barred window to try and figure out why we weren't coming out the main entrance, but Nick promptly shoved me away from the door to lift the metal pole and push the door open. He had a silenced SMG in his hands, dual pistols taking shelter in two sheaths around his hips. We were lucky enough to find holsters for all of our dual pistols. Well, I only had one, seeing that I had instead strapped a fire axe to my back instead of taking on an extra pistol. The others merely shrugged at this and told me to leave it behind in the saferoom, in case someone else strolled this way and needed it. Well, Coach and Rochelle told me that. Nick just rolled his eyes and pocketed a few magazines for his SMG. On top of our previously gathered pistols, Coach had grabbed a pump shotgun, Rochelle followed Nick with the submachine gun, and I took another shotgun to even things out.

The journey to the gun shop across town wasn't too bad, but we did have our first run-in with a Tank, or whatever the hell they wanted to call it. It was a fucking huge piece of muscle that punched and destroyed everything in its path of rage. The fact that it came after me and Nick first was just even more horror to go through. Eventually we ran out of road to run down, and the thing was still running at us at full speed. Right as it was about to throw its gigantic, meaty fists into Nick and me, when it suddenly fell forward, dead. Coach was standing behind it, my abandoned fire axe embedded in the Tank's skull.

Afterwards, we made it to Whitaker's gun store, and we stocked up on weapons and provisions. Coach replaced his pump shotgun with a combat shotgun, a nice upgrade in my own opinion. Rochelle traded in her gun for one of the only _good _sniper rifles left. She even managed to snag a laser sight to tag onto the gun for later use, a grin on her face. Nick's eyes raked over the many options, obviously taking this choice to be a very serious deal. I stood on the opposite end of the row, just observing him as he looked. His white suit, three-thousand dollar white suit, was beginning to gather a group of stains around his arms and legs from where the infected would try and bite or beat up on him. I watched as his jade green eyes studied the desert rifles and assault rifles in front of him, carefully taking his time to decide on which he wanted to take with.

"Which one are ya thinkin' of gettin'?" I asked Nick quietly, leaning back against the counter. I was hovering in front of the shotguns, casting a glance towards them every so often. Nick turned his head to look at me, not expressing any kind of direct anger at me.

"Probably the M-16." Nick replied cooly, his hands reaching out towards a gray assault rifle. I nodded, looking at the man and his new gun thoughtfully. I just leaned forward and snatched up one of the many tactical shotguns, not really minding which one I took. They were all good guns, in my opinion. Whitaker knew where to get his guns, I won't lie.

"Who goes down there?" A heavy southern accent filled the store. "What're ya'll doin' with my guns?"

"There's an intercom button over here," Rochelle said, gesturing for all of us to come towards the back of the store.

Warily, she pressed it, speaking at the same time. "Hello? Hello sir, we'd like to take some of your guns, while we make our way to the mall..."

"The name's Whitaker, and I have a proposition for ya. See, I barricaded myself up here in my own shelter, with ample provisions. But in my haste, I forgot cola. So," The back door opened as he continued. "If ya'll can go fetch me some cola at the yonder food store, I'll clear a path to the mall for ya. Ya'll will need the help,"

"Man needs his snacks. I can respect that," Coach muttered, his words only for us to hear. I nodded in agreement, looking around for a couple more bullets for the new shotgun.

"What are you gonna use to clear the path with?" I asked once Rochelle pressed the button again. She looked a little annoyed at me for taking her place, but she soon overcame it as Whitaker began to reply.

"Well, see here, I have a nice little beauty from World War II. Classic anti-tank gun..." The man trailed off and I was about to start up a conversation with him about guns, when Rochelle gently shoved me out of the way.

"Alright sir, we'll get your cola. But you better not back out of this deal," Rochelle warned, taking a wary step towards the opened door.

"I am a man of my word, miss, I assure ya." Whitaker promised over the intercom.

"Alright guys, let's go get some cola," I said, just barely smiling under the bill of my hat.

...

The run over to the supermarket was relatively quick, not taking too much time. A few zombies were standing around, but I took care of them rather quickly with my axe, seeing that the others didn't want to waste their bullets. I didn't mind, it was just warming me up for later on when I knew we'd face even more of these bastards. The others were beginning to pick up on the notion that getting something to bash some faces in would be a good idea, so they all began looking around for something they could swing around. Coach found a couple of crowbars outside the supermarket, handing one to Rochelle. When he glanced at Nick, the conman just sneered silently.

"Looks like we gotta break the windows open," I said, looking over the doors to the supermarket. They were all glass, which meant it'd probably be an easy break-in. Unless…

"There's more or less going to be an alarm in there, you do realize that, right?" Nick said, almost as if he were angry with me even speaking. I looked at him, a little hurt. The ever present casual smile on my face disappeared for just a second, trying to mutely tell him that he was just being mean and uncalled for. I could've sworn I saw his facial expression ease up and turn into something sympathetic and apologetic, but it was gone before I could even comprehend it.

"Looks like we gonna have to risk it," Coach said, walking up to the sealed doors. "But first, we sure these aren't open?"

"If we open them, the alarm will go off," Rochelle said quietly.

Coach nodded. "Alrigh'. Here's what we're gonna do. Ro, you still got that pipe bomb from earlier?" The woman nodded silently. "Okay, you'll throw that off somewhere _far away _so that we have a nice, clean run to get the cola and run back. Son, you think you're up for runnin' in an' gettin' the cola?" Coach turned to me, and I looked at him, just a little bit surprised. I grinned as fast as I could and nodded.

"Yeah, sure, that sounds good." I replied, holding onto my shotgun tightly.

"Nick, can you back him up?" Coach asked, his voice implying he already regretted asking it.

"Sure, whatever," Nick said almost immediately, shrugging as if he didn't care.

Coach nodded, turning back to Rochelle. "Get ready to toss it, baby girl."

Rochelle pulled the homemade bomb out of her back pocket, looking over it as if it surprised her just a tad bit. She tossed it once in the air, not too high, catching it gently.

"Get ready boys," she murmured as she prepared the bomb for launch.

I turned to the door at her approval, kicking in the glass as hard as I could. At the same time, I saw Rochelle hurtle the pipe bomb towards the walkway we had just crossed not even an hour ago.

"Come on, _run._" Nick yelled over the roar of the incoming infected. I bolted into the store, running straight for the back where I just _knew _there would be cola. I knew this supermarket as if it were the back of my hand, thanks to growing up here in Savannah. I sprinted around the corner where the first couple of rows of cereal once were, and I saw the coolers, _and a case of cola. _Grinning, I snatched it up and sped back out of the store, whooping and hollering.

"I got the dude's cola, let's go, let's go!" I shouted running back towards Whitaker's store. Coach and Nick were right behind me, Rochelle covering us as we ran through the now gathering swarm of zombies.

"That fucking alarm is getting on my nerves." Nick grumbled angrily, shoving the barrel of his M-16 into one zombie's chest, unleashing a few rounds into it. I didn't realize how close Nick was to me until he stumbled over my feet as we ran up the stairs to get to the second level of the shopping complex. I ran as fast as I could to get to the metal door housing in Whitaker.

"Put the cola in the slot!" Whitaker's voice echoed over the intercom. I saw a slot fall open through the door, the metal clanging as it opened fully.

With haste, I ran and deposited the cola into the slot as carefully as I could, my heart pounding in my ears. I could hear zombies clamber across the roof and hit the ground behind me. I had no idea if Nick was still here, or if he was waiting for me at the foot of the staircase. Either way, would he be able to save me if I suddenly got swarmed by zombies? _What if I got bit? _

The minute the cola was out of my hands, I spun around, yanking out my axe. A lone zombie was running towards me, other corpses littered around him on the ground. Grinning, I lifted the axe up, my grip on the handle tightening, and drove it down directly into his skull. As the blade impacted the skull, I heard a giant explosion echo from behind me. Turning to look, I saw giant clouds of smoke and fire swell up and burst into the sky as the gas tank that was once in our way exploded before my eyes. It took me a moment, but I was shouting with glee at how _cool _that was.

"Did you guys see that?" I hollered, running back to Coach and Rochelle, who were in the parking lot below. As I passed Nick, I saw him hit the palm of his hand against his forehead.

"Calm down young'in, we still gotta get to the mall," Coach said, obviously not expressing the same interest in the explosion. Rochelle tried to smile at me, but I could tell it was her attempt to just make me feel better...

"Yeah, I guess ya'll are right," I said, trying to not look disappointed in their obvious disinterest.

We began walking towards Liberty Mall, which was literally just around the corner from where we were. Hopefully there'd be evac stations in there, and we'd be free from this mess. I was _not _enjoying getting zombie brains all over my Bullshifters shirt.

Then again, the brains were probably coming from me chopping into the zombies like an axe murderer. I always wanted to feel what it was like to be an axe murderer…

* * *

**AN: **Sorry if this chapter sucks. I'm going through some pretty tough shit right now... To sum it up, I like this guy who's pretty much amazing and I really want to date him. He likes me back, so he asked me out a few days ago. I said yes, even though our best friend was a little bit jealous of us. Then, she started acting all dramatic and depressed and shit the next day, and she got everyone to feel bad for her, making them believe she was upset over me and my boyfriend, when really, she wasn't. Then I walk home with him, everything's amazing, yadda yadda. Then, an hour later, he breaks up with me because he doesn't want to go out if our best friend is going to hate us. Which she wasn't... This sounds like a horrible drama problem. Sorry for that.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own anything. I just write to vent.


	5. Chapter 5: Liberty Mall

Chapter Five: Liberty Mall

The saferoom in Liberty Mall was cramped, giving us hardly any room to rest properly, let alone sleep without kicking each other. I had managed to curl up in a corner, my knees pulled up to my chest. Nick was sitting close by, his hands running over his assault rifle with ease.

"Hey Nick?" I said quietly, looking at the man.

He only grunted in reply, but I took that as a sign to continue speaking.

"D'you think there's gonna be an evac station in the mall?"

Nick didn't reply, but instead stood up and walked over to the door that opened up into the mall itself. A steady crowd of infected had gathered around it, their low moans echoing throughout the room.

"As a conman, I know when the stakes are high, when to play my cards, and when I'm about to lose," Nick murmured, raising his assault rifle to the bars. "I may believe there won't be an evac station in here, but if you guys are gonna be hopeful about that, well," He cast a glance towards me, his green eyes strangely empty and honest. "Then I guess I'll try to be too."

I grinned a little bit, one of my hands lowering towards the shotgun at my side. Even though Nick didn't have any _real _confidence in this place, at least I got to know who he had been before all of this had happened, and I knew he was at least trying to have hope. The corner of his lips threatened to curl into a smile, but it was left at just that. He turned his head back to the infected and unleashed an entire magazine into their increasing numbers. Unable to resist, I aimed for a few straggling hands with my pistol, only using five or six bullets. Coach and Rochelle, who had been dozing on the opposite side of the saferoom, immediately woke up to the sound of the rapid gunfire, annoyance clearly evident in their eyes. They looked between me and Nick, obviously trying to decide who was the real culprit behind their rude awakening. They ultimately decided Nick was the villain here, and their glaring eyes rested on him.

"Nicolas, we're tryin' to get some rest before we gotta go riskin' our lives to find an evac station inside this goddamn mall. Would you stop firin' your gun around as if you have unlimited ammo?" Coach grumbled, his tired eyes lit up angrily. Rochelle's only reflected the elder man, perhaps just a little bit more intimidating.

"He was jus' tryin' to take care'a the zombies outside'a here," I said defensively, but Nick immediately shot me an angry look. Why didn't he want my help defending him? It's not like he was doing anything wrong. He was just trying to make our escape out of here a little bit easier.

"Shut it Overalls, I don't need your help," Nick snapped, all traces of his earlier, less angered mood gone. I regretted trying to help the man, yet I couldn't help but meet those jade green eyes, just to see into his emotions, rage or no. They were just so beautiful...

"Right, well," Rochelle stood up, brushing off her shirt and jeans. "We need to get going. We'll fight another time."

Nick let out a dry laugh, a sneer beginning to form on his face. Coach pushed past the conman, throwing the bar off of the saferoom door. Nick backed up, letting the man go through the door first, Rochelle behind him. I tried once more to be polite and gestured for Nick to go ahead of me, but he just rolled his eyes and waited for me to leave first.

"Ya don't haveta treat me like shit," I murmured to him before going. "I ain't out ta getcha. I jus' wanna be your friend."

Nick didn't reply, so I just sighed and followed Coach and Rochelle. Nick brought up the rear, closing the saferoom door behind him.

...

"Who's cryin'?" I asked the others, hearing a muffled sob come from nearby.

"It's not you?" Nick mumbled from beside me.

I glared at him before looking back to Coach and Rochelle.

"It's not us, sweetie." Rochelle said softly.

"Wait, what's that?" Nick pointed his gun off in a direction to our right, the light falling on what looked to be a girl wandering around, her head in her hands.

"Is she a survivor?" I heard Coach ask, her voice carrying. The girl seemed to have heard our voices, her head raising up ever so slightly. The sobs became louder, but just for a second, before they turned into growls.

"Shut up," Nick hissed, earning a few more glares towards him. The low growling stopped, and the sobs resumed once more. After waiting a few more painful minutes, Nick looked away from the girl and turned to us. "I don't think she's a survivor."

"But what if she is?" I argued, my heart beating out my brain.

"Ellis could be right," Rochelle murmured warily.

"Well, why don't you two go and find out, then?" Nick replied, his grip on the M16 tightening.

I immediately began to get up from our crouched position in the corner. Rochelle hesitantly joined me, unsure of whether to bring her sniper rifle or not. I set out for the girl before she could even decide, so she brought it without thinking, in an attempt to catch up to me. I approached the girl slowly, my light shining on the ground towards her legs and feet. I didn't take interest in her body, but instead focused on calling out to her in an attempt to communicate.

"Hey, hey are you alrigh'?" I said, nothing else coming to mind. I immediately cursed myself for not having anything better to say.

The sobbing continued, a high pitched intake of breath occuring every few seconds or so. I looked back at Rochelle, who seemed to be second guessing what we were doing. Instantly, a feeling of dread washed over me as I looked back at the girl. It was then that I noticed the dim red glow about her, and how _pale _her legs and feet were. So pale, in fact, that they were practically gray. Her cries and sobs began to weasel into my head, manifesting other forms of fear as they echoed about in the deserted mall. Her aimless wanderings brought her closer to me than I originally wanted to be, but I felt rooted to the spot. As she drew nearer to me, her muffled sobs dwindled down to barely anything above a whisper, growls rumbling out of her throat. I wanted to run, run far away, but I stayed rooted to the spot.

A cold shiver of dread ran down my spine as she was suddenly no more than two feet away from me. She had stopped moving, her sobs almost nonexistant. Growls were beginning to turn into bloodcurlding shrieks as she raised her head and extended her arms. Her hands weren't hands, though. They were beastly talons, much larger than her head that held those fiery red eyes that seemed to stare deep into my being, perhaps even down to my soul. Cold sweat rolled down the back of my neck as a feeling of utter hopelessness washed over me. There was no way I could survive an attack from her.

The last shriek was the loudest. She braced herself to run at me with everything she had, until a roar of gunfire blasted from behind me, and a bullet buried itself in between those hellfire eyes.

"Told you she was infected." Nick smirked.

I turned to look at the conman, my eyes still wide, no doubt. At first, I thought the expression in his eyes was nothing short of pompous arrogance, but then I saw something more, perhaps relief he killed her before she even made a move to attack me? Did Nick actually care for me? No, wait. That's impossible. All he does is mock me, and treat me like shit. Besides, he was a conman. Maybe I was just seeing things in one of his poker faces.

"Now's not the time to be an asshole, Nick." Coach warned, eyes narrowed.

"Why do you have Coach's shotgun?" I asked faintly, still trying to recover from the feeling of dread spread throughout me.

"Someone needed to shoot the bitch. An M16 wouldn't have been powerful enough." Nick shrugged as if it was nothing. Coach snatched the gun back from the man, handing him his assault rifle. Nick took it none too gently, adding just enough force to the grab to tug the elder man forward a bit.

"Let's go, boys." Rochelle sighed, taking hold of Coach's arm and began to pull him away from the conman. I was left to stand next to Nick once again.

"Thanks for tha', man." I said to him quietly.

Nick didn't reply, but instead just looked at me before walking away. This time, I _knew _I saw relief, and just a hint of affection in those jade green eyes.

**

* * *

**

AN:

Sorry, sorry. I was going to extend this through the atrium, but I stopped short. I haven't been feeling good lately and I hardly got any sleep last night. I still wanted to write some for you all, though, because I know you all at least kinda like this, heheh. Anyway, I promise that the Nellis will start rollin' in soon. Hopefully... I'll have a lot more posted next week, when I actually have internet access. I had to run over to a friend's house with my flashdrive to post this. Hoorah for best friends across the street (she has a Youtube account that's steadily growing, you should go watch her videos and thank her for her willingness to do anything I need; her name is Artielove96 and you should bombard her with comments). :)

**Disclaimer: **I don't own anything from Left 4 Dead (2) except for Ellis' hat and shirt.


	6. Chapter 6: The Atrium

Chapter Six: The Atrium

Getting through the rest of the mall was sheer torture. We came across another crying girl, thankfully avoiding her entirely. I still felt cold and empty on the inside, but thankfully Nick's fleeting expression of concern was enough to save me from crying myself. At first, I fought whatever it was I felt towards the conman. If things with Keith…

Keith was gone.

I sniffled, hopefully going unnoticed by the others. Coach and Rochelle didn't seem to notice, but Nick's footsteps from behind me picked up. I turned to look at the man, thankful that he had expressed a little interest in my life.

Until he walked right by me.

"Is that the evac station?" Rochelle asked faintly, watching Nick practically run by her.

"Looks deserted." Coach grumbled.

"That's 'cause it is," I agreed, my heart sinking. _Two evacs deserted?_

"What the fucking hell is this shit?" Nick shouted after reaching the abandoned tents and tables. "Where the fuck are those CEDA people?"

Looking around, I saw the bodies of CEDA workers torn apart, their chests and upper bodies ripped into pieces. The heavy smell of acidic chemicals hung heavy in the air, probably from the medicine and potential vaccines they had used on the people before _this _happened. Warily, I kept looking around, seeing all the torn, beaten and ravaged bodies on the dark floor. My stomach was flipping over, threatening to empty all of its contents all over the ground.

"Dear God, what happened here?" Rochelle gasped her brown eyes wide.

"I don't think I _want _to know," Coach muttered, placing a hand on Rochelle's shoulder. She turned into the man, a quiet sob muffled almost immediately by Coach's purple shirt.

Nick had come to a total stop in front of a table that had a body of a woman on it, looking not much better from those crying girls. Scratches and cuts decorated her skin, probably _from _one of those crying girls…

"Those goddamn witches," Nick hissed, resting his hand gently on the mauled girl's shoulder.

Wait.

"Hey Nick?" I whispered to the conman, approaching him slowly.

"What the hell do you want, kid?" Nick growled. He didn't look up, yet I could all but see him grinding his teeth.

"There's special infected out there," I said quietly, taken aback by his sudden rage. "Maybe we should give 'em names."

"Maybe you should take your backwards-assed hillbilly ideas somewhere else."

I gasped silently, backing away from the man. I was about to turn and run to Rochelle, or Coach, but instead Nick stormed off deeper into the mall. That wasn't safe. Nick wouldn't be safe out there by himself.

"Nick, what are ya doin'?" I called out to the man's turned back, that off-white color slowly being absorbed into the darkness.

I waited for a few seconds before trying to go after him, almost running to catch up. A low growling came from his direction, and at first I thought it was coming from him. Yet as I came closer to him, I realized it _wasn't _him.

What the hell was going on?

Suddenly, something long and slimy wrapped itself around Nick's waist, and he was being dragged away from me. I let out a startled yelp and instantly ran to him, abandoning my shotgun on the ground. Nick's screams echoed around my ears as I watched him scrape across the ground, his hands scrambling to grab something, _anything, _to stop him from being pulled back to whatever had grabbed onto him.

His screams became muffled and choked as the tip of the long slimy thing wrapped itself around his neck. I stared in horror as his struggling and thrashing about became weaker and weaker. I lunged for him, tearing out my axe on my way to him. I brought the blade down onto the greenish gray thing, severing it. A throaty wail came from behind Nick, and I saw something tall, green, and covered in warts. I shivered in disgust, yet I ran after it anyway, my axe high in the air. I cut down into the infected, hearing a winded gasp as it exploded into a cloud of green smoke.

"Aw man, what the hell?" I whined, waving my arms about as my vision became blinded. Two hands grabbed my shoulders and I spun around instantly, only to come face to face with Nick. His cheeks were red, his breath ragged. I smiled faintly upon seeing his face.

"Come on kid," Nick said breathily. "I heard other infected around here. Rochelle and Coach,"

He didn't even have to finish speaking. I nodded and ran off back to where we left the others, picking up my shotgun off the ground on the way there. Like Nick said, there had been other infected. As we came closer to Rochelle and Coach, we saw two other "new" infected. One was wearing a hoodie of sorts, its back facing us. I raised my shotgun to aim at it, but Nick hurriedly shoved my gun down.

I looked up at him, but he gestured to stay quiet. Slowly, he raised his assault rifle, taking great care to aim at the higher back of the creature. He closed his left eye, inhaling quietly. His finger tightened around the trigger, a constant stream of bullets hitting the thing's back. It squealed in high-pitched fury, falling over dead instantly. I saw Coach and Rochelle glance up towards our direction, guns raised. I smiled, making sure they knew it was just us, and that there were no other infected.

Well, no other infected, until a fucking huge thing rammed into me and carried me off into the distance, making a noise like you would hear from a rhinoceros, or an elephant.

"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS THING?" I cried out, before it slammed me into one of the pillars by an escalator, proceeding to hit me against it until I saw stars. My bones felt weak, almost like jelly. I whimpered in pain, trying my hardest to find a way out of this thing's hold on me. My vision faded. The last thing I saw was Nick and Rochelle running to me, their mouths open and probably screaming out my name. With a pained sigh, I slipped out of consciousness, under the continuous slam of the beast's hold on me. What a way to die…

...

"Overalls."

_Nngh…_

"Overalls!"

_What…?_

A cold slap to the face.

I sat up, gasping in fear. Instantly, my sides lit on fire, and I groaned in pain. A gentle but firm hand pressed me back to the ground. It was an act of kindness, trying to prevent me from hurting myself further, I just knew it. But I didn't expect it to be from Nick…

"Come on Overalls, I need you to wake up," his voice called out to me softly, his green eyes lit up with worry.

"Wha'?" I murmured softly, still confused.

"Come on kid. I need you to stay here, propped up against the car. Rochelle and I are gonna try and find a way out of here," Nick replied.

"Car?" I asked.

"Some douche's racecar. It's not important; I just need you to _stay here._"

"Jimmy Gibbs Junior's car?" I said, trying to sit up. Nick firmly pressed me back down.

"Yeah yeah, that one," Nick whispered hastily. "Are you even listening to me?"

"Did you think of filling the car up with gas?" I muttered, my eyes brightening.

"Wait, what?"

"Fill up the car with gas." I repeated. "There's gotta be some gas cans 'round here,"

Nick smiled, but just for a second. It was a beautiful sight, though, seeing his lips curl up into a grin. I could've sworn I felt my heart beat just a little bit faster at the sight of it.

"Yeah, that should work. But stay here, okay?"

"Okay," I nodded eagerly. Nick handed me his assault rifle, taking my shotgun in his hands. I looked up at him, confused.

"I'll need you to actually hit the zombies, not me." Nick said bluntly, standing up. I looked up at him, nodding. I propped myself up against the car, resting the powerful gun on my thigh.

"Let's do this." I smiled.

Nick returned the gesture.

And then he was gone, running off to get gas, Rochelle behind him. The roar of the hordes of zombies echoed overhead, almost shaking the foundation of the mall itself. I whooped and hollered, eager to see this through. We were almost free. I just _knew _it. We'd be out of here shortly, and we'd be free from all of this.

"Hey Coach!" I shouted to the elderly black man.

He cast a glance towards me, almost as if he was thinking about regretting answering. It didn't bother me though. I don't think anything could.

"Coach, kin I drive the car?" I asked, practically begging the man.

He rolled his eyes and nodded, blasting a hole through a zombie's head. The infected fell continuously. Nick and Rochelle raced down the stairs, each holding a can of gas and a pistol. They made a mad dash towards the car, and that's when I saw that on top of the other cans, they were _kicking _a can each. Four cans of gas should _definitely _do it! I was grinning like a fool now, as they emptied the cans into the car. Nick helped me up into the car, Coach covering as we all climbed in. I just about died from excitement and happiness when Nick placed me in the driver's seat.

"Come on kid, get us rolling," Nick growled, taking his gun back. I started up the car as quickly as I could, Rochelle clambering into the backseat. Coach followed her with much haste, right as I got the car running. It revved up, and I shouted with joy. I urged the car to go, go, _go_, and then…

We ran through the front glass doors, driving off into the setting sun.

* * *

**AN: **Sorry for the rushed ending... I finished this RIGHT at the end of class, and I had to hurry up to post it. Hope you enjoyed, though. :)

**Edit 12/3/10: **Awlrighty, I went back through and edited this a bit today, seeing that I actually have more time now than I did yesterday... I'm working on the next chapter, and it should be the last one before the format changes. More explaining later... I just felt awkward leaving it up in its mostly original state, so I just had to update it. Hooray.


	7. Chapter 7: Highway to Hell

Chapter Seven: Highway to Hell

"Ya'll are gonna pay for makin' me sleep back here," Coach grumbled as he readjusted himself for what seemed to be the twentieth time so far. Rochelle had fallen asleep next to him, practically pushed up against the window. Even though she was a small woman, I didn't know she was _that _small. It just seemed weird, looking at her as if she were a child. It certainly seemed like she was small enough to be one.

I had to move my seat up just slightly, letting go of the steering wheel with one hand. Coach sighed with gratitude before finally coming to a rest. His eyes closed and I knew he was asleep within moments.

"Hey kid?" Nick's quiet voice called out, kind of hesitant, taking care not to speak too loudly to wake the others.

"Yeah?" I replied, turning to glance at him before returning my sight to the road. When he didn't continue right away, I shot another glance towards him, but as it turned out, he was in a state of thought, perhaps trying to come up with the right words to say what he was thinking.

"What was the earlier idea about naming all these infected bastards?"

I could've sworn the grin on my face would've cracked and broken every feature around me, I was so happy. "Ya really wanna come up with names for 'em?"

Nick sighed, stretching his arms out towards the dashboard. "Sure, why not. We got time to kill,"

I practically started jumping up and down in excitement, the pressure on the gas pedal increasing.

"Well, I was thinkin' them long tongue guys? Maybe we could call 'em Smokers." I began, my voice expressing every ounce of my joy. It was kind of ridiculous, but I couldn't help it. I was just so relieved Nick actually cared enough to take an interest in this, especially after what happened the first time I suggested the idea to him.

Nick chuckled, hands folded on his lap. "Why's that?"

"'Cause when ya shoot 'em, green smoke or whatever comes outta them." I explained, remembering what happened earlier in the mall.

"Not bad, not bad," Nick commented, thoughtfully nodding his head. "Here's another one. Those giant elephant things? They should be called 'Chargers'."

"Heh, yeah. Wha' about those fat things? Rollin' around or someshit like that," I trailed off, shivering in disgust.

"Boomers." Nick simply stated.

"Why 'Boomer'?"

"Because I'll bet you three thousand dollars that they explode when you shoot 'em." Nick replied, smirking. He rolled down his window, sticking the sniper rifle Rochelle had left abandoned by the center console out into the night air. Two seconds later, Nick shot out into the darkness, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw something explode into a massive pulpy shower of what appeared to be body remains.

"Ho-lee shit," I whispered, whistling faintly.

"That's three grand you owe me now, kid." Nick chuckled to himself, pulling the gun back in the car. He rolled the window up a little bit, still enjoying the cool air blowing across his aged face.

"Wha' other nasties were there?" I asked, nodding in his direction.

Nick sniffed, straightening his posture. "There was that punk-ass hoodie guy. Crawled around on his feet and stuff," Nick cocked his head to the left, towards me, and squinted. "He also seemed like he was on the hunt for something,"

"Prolly for us, righ'?" I replied.

"Yeah, probably." Nick agreed, nodding slightly. "How about 'Stalker'?"

"Nah, you said he was a'huntin'. Maybe we should name 'em 'Hunters'." I offered lightly.

"Huh. That wouldn't be so bad," Nick nodded again, and I had to resist the urge to smile. "But um, are we going to stop for the night?"

The light, hazy mood lifted, and suddenly I remembered that we were in this hell. "Um, yeah, we should be close to a town on a river, if I r'member correctly."

"Haven't you been paying attention to the signs?" Nick asked. I heard him bite back the initial sting of the comment, instead trying to cover it up with genuine interest. I wanted to feel hurt, seeing that he was still acting all bipolar around me.

"I have been," I started slowly. "It's jus', I don' remember the place havin' a sign on the highway an' such."

"Oh. Alright." Nick said quietly.

The conversation died out at that, and we sat in uncomfortable silence. I tried to concentrate on the road, but I couldn't help but look over at the conman every few seconds or so. The silence unnerved me, and I wanted nothing more than to start talking again, but I didn't want to set the conman off. I didn't want to get yelled at, not again. I really don't think I could handle it, after seeing him being kind of nice to me for a while.

I heard Nick's voice, not even noticing what he had said. I whipped my head to look at him, almost smiling.

"Did you hear me, Overalls?"

"Wait, wha'?" I shook my head a little bit, blinking.

Nick scowled. "What's the name of the town?"

"Oh. Rayford. Why?"

"Turn right. Right now."

I looked out towards his window, seeing the green highway sign.

"Oh, shit!" I exclaimed, seeing the sign for the town. I took a sharp turn, instantly regretting not paying attention to Nick's question, and for making such a violent turn. I heard Coach and Rochelle slide up against the window, Rochelle letting out a startled yelp.

"Boy, what the _hell _is goin' on?" Coach roared, instantly awake from his slumber. I bit my lip, gripping the steering wheel tightly. I straightened the car back out as soon as I got onto the off ramp, keeping the high speed to make sure that there was no throwback. I gradually slowed the car down as Rochelle came to her senses and began trying to calm Coach down. Out of a glimpse in the rear view mirror, he looked just about ready to pack a punch through the back of the chair. My eyes widened even further as I caught sight of the city limits.

"Oh, look, there it is!" I exclaimed shakily, practically shivering in my seat. Nick, who had a firm grip on the dashboard, looked downright pissed. I swallowed nervously, feeling another tingly feeling in my side from where the Charger had rammed me into the ground earlier. I felt my head go light, and internally I began to panic.

"Take it easy, there, kid," Nick warned, easing up o his grip on the dashboard. Blinking a couple of times, I loosened up on the wheel, riding into town slowly.

Not too far in, a bridge appeared in sight. At first, the sight didn't bother me. Then, as we drew nearer, I noticed that it wasn't down, rather, it had been raised as if a boat were coming.

"Well damn, what do we do now?" I murmured, bringing the car to a stop.

Nick leaned forward and squinted his eyes. "I think there are people up there, on the bridge."

"Well get yo' ass out of the car so the rest of us can have a look," Coach grumbled, unfastening his seat belt. Nick returned the harsh words under his breath, opening the door of the race car.

As Nick slid out of the car, Rochelle and Coach immediately followed suit, extremely happy to finally be out of the backseat, which was no doubt smaller than the front. I made a move to get out, but the pain in my side lit on fire. I gritted my teeth in anguish and slid back into place, my eyes glistening with pain.

I opened my mouth to call out to Rochelle, or ick, but the voices of my team mixed with a new voice made me hesitate. Was that a girl's voice?

"Hey there, cupcake. Listen, I'm sure you can run your mouth to us about whatever the hell you want, but is there a man up there we can talk to?" Nick's voice was filled with venom and ice.

"Shut the fuck up, Nicolas," Coach growled. I could see the elder man shove the conman aside to come over to the driver's side of the car. "Young'in, I'm sure you could talk to the lady better than Candyass over there," Coach shot Nick an angry glare, which Nick hastily returned. "So come on. I'll help you outta the car."

Coach opened the door, extending his hand to me. I look it cautiously, not too eager to feel the internal pain again. Gently, he helped me out of the car, swinging my arm around his shoulder. I blinked a couple of times, looking up towards the girl on the bridge.

"Man, oh man," I whispered. "I jumped Jimmy Gibbs' car through a plate glass window, and I just met the prettiest girl I've ever seen. Nick, shoot me now, brother. Day's never gonna get any better than this."

Nick lowered his hand to his pistol holster, and I instinctively leaned back towards Coach in fear. The chuckle of the conman's laugh unnerved me as he dropped his hand, a smug smile on his face.

"Why don't you go talk to the pretty lady, sport?" Nick motioned for me to step forward with sarcasm, rolling his eyes.

I looked up to the girl on the bridge, the sight of her brunette hair, pulled back into a ponytail, and her dirty pink jacket enough to make me see stars. "Well, hello! Heh..hello... He-howdy, uhh, beautiful weather, huh?... We're having a, uhh..." I looked to Rochelle for support, my eyes wide. The girl on the bridge started laughing softly.

"What's your name?" She asked, looking down at me with a smile.

"E-Ellis," I replied, stuttering every step of the way. "D-do you think you can lower the bridge for us?"

"Well... No, I wish we could, but we can't lower the bridge. You're gonna need to get to the other side of the bridge, we can help you then. And then once you get over here we can fill up the generator. The generator will make a lot of noise, but don't worry Ellis, we can cover you from up here. You got all that?"

I just kind of stared at her pretty face, lost in thought.

"Say something to the lady, Ellis," Rochelle murmured.

"She is so beautiful..." I whispered.

"Do you think he'll be able to come with us to get across the city?" Coach asked Rochelle and Nick.

"I don't know, can he walk?" Rochelle replied worriedly.

"Sure as hell can't." Nick muttered, walking back to the car to get his assault rifle out of the passenger's seat.

"Maybe he should stay here?" Rochelle offered.

"Hey guys, I can take care of myself." I said sternly, trying to shrug Coach away. I hissed in pain, Nick reaching out to stabilize me. The feel of his hands on my back instantly numbed most

"I could carry him around," Nick said, almost begrudgingly.

"Or you could leave him here," the girl on the bridge piped up.

"What the fuck kind of idea is that?" Nick snarled, throwing her a dirty look. "If we leave him here, he could get killed!"

"If you take him with, he has an even better chance of getting killed," she snapped.

"Girl, what's your name?" Rochelle asked, her voice much gentler than Nick's.

"Zoey."

"Zoey... We'll leave Ellis here, where it's _safe,_" The news reporter threw an evil glare at Nick.

"That's great, do you think you could walk him into that building right there?" Zoey pointed at an apartment building right next to the bridge. I can keep an eye on him in there, possibly even jump over and take a look at his side."

"That would be wonderful," Rochelle smiled, helping Coach walk me over to the building. Nick glared at the three of us as we disappeared into the apartments. Was Nick actually getting _defensive _over me? Coach and Rochelle laid me down on a couch in the highest apartment, my memory of the past couple of seconds gone.

"Jus' stay here, boy. Keep outta trouble." Coach murmured, patting me on the shoulder. He started to walk out, unsheathing his pistol.

"We'll be back as soon as we can, sweetie." Rochelle said reassuringly, casting me a simple smile.

I returned the gesture weakly, watching them leave in curiosity. My thoughts didn't lie on them, however, but on Nick. What was going through his head? What were his feelings towards me? Or was I just overreacting?

Leaning towards the last option, I rolled onto my side, the one that didn't feel like shit, and curled into the couch. Yawning quietly, I closed my eyes and tried to rest, hoping the others would hurry...

* * *

**AN: **Alrighty, I apologize for the lack of updates... I had finals, Christmas, new boyfriend... But I'll try my damndest to update every week. I had some trouble getting this started (if it wasn't evident), but hopefully I'll have it under control before I try adding any romance... But it's coming. Just... Not what you'd expect? I better shut up before I start sounding like an idiot...

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Left 4 Dead 1 or 2.


	8. Chapter 8: On the Loose

Chapter Eight: On the Loose

We had left Ellis behind with that girl almost three hours ago, and we were getting nowhere. The best we had done was made it into the sewers, and now, by some miracle, we were lost.

Just fucking great.

A few cuss words hissed out of my mouth as I tried to keep the majority of my white suit jacket dry and uncontaminated. However, it didn't appear to be working, which just made me even angrier. Coach and Rochelle were taking turns laughing at me behind my back as I took the lead in finding a way out of here. Our flashlight batteries were on the verge of dying, and I could hear the noises of some Special Infected coming from all around us as more and more common infected filled the tunnels. Our ammo was pretty damn low too, and I was so close to hurling my AK-47 at the nearest living (or living dead) thing.

"Hey, what's that up ahead?" Rochelle called out from behind me, her light shining just a tad bit more brightly than mine.

"It looks like a ladder." I muttered, narrowing my eyes so I could see a bit better.

"A ladder?" Coach echoed.

That's when the excitement hit me, and I could hardly contain myself from running towards the nasty yellow ladder protruding from this stinking pit. The space above seemed to be a platform of some sorts, with entrances leading to separate tunnels all along the wall. Rochelle burst out into a fit of giggles when I practically ran up the ladder.

"Shut the hell up," I growled, pulling myself up onto the solid ground. I shook my legs a bit to try and get the excess water out of my pants. I noticed Rochelle and Coach did the same.

"Alright alright," Coach limped his way towards me, seemingly taking the lead of our three-man group once more. "It seems all these tunnels go to the same place. Hopefully nothin' bad will be waitin' for us."

_And hopefully Overalls will still be waiting for us back at the bridge…_

"Let's move." I grunted, walking off before either of the others could object.

_I needed Overalls to be okay…_


	9. Chapter 9: Options

Chapter Nine: Options

I woke up to find that girl, Zoey, sitting on the table across from where I was laying down. She was preoccupied with fiddling with a medkit to notice that I had woken up, but I was in no hurry to let her know. I wanted to take a moment to look over her, since I hadn't had the time to before I had passed out. What time was it, anyway?

"Hey Zoey," I murmured, moving to sit up. She raised her head to look at me, and I was caught off guard by how pretty her eyes were. They were almost like…

His?

"I thought you'd be out for a little longer." Zoey said, obviously skipping any kind of warm greeting. Well, besides the fact that she was smiling warmly. I guess that ruled out my theory.

I accomplished sitting up on my own, but not without a roaring pain in my side. The beginning of my smile turned into a grunt of pain. Immediately, Zoey had her hands on my arm and side, trying to coax me back down. Her lips moved quickly in a low murmur of reassurance, and I could've sworn I got better then and there just by watching her mouth move.

Her murmurs turned into a wry smile as she suddenly stopped talking.

"Damn, you noticed tha', didn't ya?"

"You aren't very good at hiding your feelings." Zoey chuckled, taking a seat in front of me. Her legs were spread to where my knees were between hers. My mouth began to dry up, and I could feel my blood dropping to somewhere other than my heart…

I felt two things in that moment.

One was the blood pounding in my ears, and below the belt.

The second was Zoey's lips on mine, and that feeling of…

Betrayal?

* * *

AN: So sorry for never updating! Life's really gotten a hold on me, and I've had to work on a ton of other stuff. That being said, I'm gonna work on this some more this week! I promise! It'll be done by the end of April for sure. :D


	10. Chapter 10: Not Once, Not Ever

Chapter Ten: Not Once, Not Ever

I held onto Zoey's hips, trying to sort out what was racing through my head. Here I was, with the girl that I had wanted so badly to spend some time with, and I was feeling like I was betraying someone else. What was with me? As far as I knew, I still had working genitalia…

"Hey, are you nervous?" Zoey breathed, breaking away from the kiss.

"Wha'? Ah, no," I stuttered, fumbling to come up with the right words to describe my current situation. Not only was I feeling horrible on the inside, but I don't think I could stand to tell her that I hadn't done this kind of thing before.

She just smiled and leaned back down, kissing me once again. She moved from the coffee table to my lap, and I bucked my hips forward ever so slightly on impact. I gasped my mouth opening into the kiss. She must have mistaken that for a sign, because I could feel her tongue beginning to probe around.

"Mm, uh, Zoey?" I pulled back, feeling a rhythm of our hips starting up between our bodies.

"Yeah Ellis?" She looked down at me with bright eyes that were beginning to cloud over.

"I-I dunno if I wanna…"

"Hey kids! The others are here." A voice called out, filling the room with unneeded noise. I practically threw Zoey off of me in an attempt to get up. I hissed in pain, the physical burn matching the glare in Zoey's eyes.

"I'm sorry," I murmured, but she was already out the window, onto the bridge.

It was the last time I saw her.


	11. Chapter 11: All These Memories

Chapter Eleven: All These Memories

"You and Zoey-"

"It's nothin'." I replied hastily, cutting off the conman before he could get his two cents in. I didn't want to talk to him, especially not this soon after what happened between me and her.

Nick didn't say anything.

I sighed, my grip on the steering wheel tightening.

"I was jealous of her taking care of you, Overalls." Nick murmured, turning to look out the window.

My mouth hung wide open, but I couldn't say anything. Rochelle and Coach were waking up. My mind blanked as I kept driving. I didn't think or remember anything else until we got to the hotel and Nick was in the same room as me. Rochelle and Coach were somewhere else, probably looking for supplies. Neither one of us knew, or cared. I think Nick only had one thing on his mind, and it wasn't the apocalypse, it was getting my pants off.

I was all too eager to follow his lead, to feel him kissing me repeatedly. My mind spun and I could feel a dizzy spell start to set its course as we fell back onto one of the two beds in the room.

"You were really jealous?" I asked in between kisses, which was a feat I found pretty impressive, considering the conman's mouth was always just an inch away.

"Would you stop asking?" he grunted, hastily tugging at the knot on my overalls. His soiled white jacket had been disregarded and thrown into the bathroom.

"Well, sorry, I'm jus' curious as to why you want to git into my pants." I snapped, pushing him away.

He just gave me a dirty look and left the room, not even bothering to get his jacket.

...

"It's your fault she's dead, you dipshit." Nick growled his eyes puffy and red.

"Oh sure, blame me for _your_ incapability to look out for people!" I shouted, throwing my baseball bat down. Nick rushed at me, gritting his teeth. I raised my fists, bracing myself for a fight with the older man.

"'Aye!" Coach called out, running to get in between us before we started hitting each other. "Are you two completely stupid? We can't be fightin' at a time like this!"

"Why the hell not! We don't need this stupid little fuck-up." Nick argued, shooting me a deadly look. I made a move to punch him in the face, but Coach shoved me back with his giant hand.

"What the fuck are you saying, Nicolas? We need him, now more than ever, since Rochelle is gone!" Coach thundered, smacking the conman's head. Nick mumbled something under his breath and stormed off, tears still rolling down his face.

I watched him go, feeling horrible for the past couple of days. I was still trying to figure out why I was stupid enough to turn him down at the motel off the side of the highway near Whispering Oaks. Ever since, he ignored me, or tried to get me hurt. That is, until Coach finally disappeared.

"Coach!" I called out into the darkness. I could only see what was left of Nick's white suit jacket as he ran beside me. We searched everywhere we could for him, but in the middle of the night in a back-town in the middle of a swamp, there weren't many options. Our flashlights were dead, and I had just about given up. I didn't want to give up, but the open gash in my side and the blisters on my hands screamed otherwise. I lost speed, and I stumbled over my own feet.

"Come on Overalls, don't give up yet," Nick murmured, grabbing my arms and pulling me next to him. "We're gonna find him."

"How can we find him out here?" I retorted, struggling to break free from his grasp and crawl away to the nearest tree. "He's gone, Nick."

I felt Nick's calloused hand hit my cheek, my jaw popping uncomfortably. He let go of me and I fell to the ground. I threw my hands out in front of my face to stop me from falling completely into the water, but I was soaked on impact.

"He's not gone." Nick said each word quietly and with force. I could almost hear the shudders in his voice. It scared me. I had never heard Nick speak like this before, not even when Rochelle…

I flipped over as he kicked me in the chest. Groaning in pain, I tried to cradle my stomach as the blood still came pulsing out. Gritting my teeth, I tried to reach for the med-kit on my back, but Nick grabbed my hand. He fell onto his knees, splashing muddy water all over me.

"He's not gone, he can't be gone," Nick repeated, his whole body shuddering with sobs. I looked up and knew instantly, even in this darkness, he was crying.

I managed to sit up on my own, my side igniting in pain. Nick clung to me, his hot tears rolling down onto my chest. I could feel them through my wet shirt, and I only wanted to hold him for this moment, to help him feel better. We were lost in the swamp, sitting in the water, mourning for our guide. I couldn't feel anything except Nick's body against mine as we wept quietly. We didn't stop until the morning sun began to rise over the horizon, and we could finally see a little bit in front of us.

We never did find Coach's body, but we kept going, leaving behind some of our supplies at every safehouse in case somewhere out there, Coach was alive. I didn't allow myself to fantasize about that, though, because I had to be strong and keep going. Nick needed me to.

When we reached the plantation and saw the radio, I just about doubled over. We had _finally _found some means of getting free!

"Nick, there's a radio," I said excitedly, practically dropping my shotgun and running to the gate. "There's a goddamn radio!"

Nick followed me just as quickly, missing a step in his stride. He stumbled a little, picking himself right back up.

"Why hello the'ah!" There was a voice over the radio, with a thick accent.

"It works!" I hollered, practically jumping up and down with joy. Nick sighed with relief, leaning against the table. We went through hell to get out of that plantation, but that's how we met Virgil, and how we made it to New Orleans. Well, almost there. We had to walk the last mile, but we were so close, I could taste it.

"The bridge is right there, Overalls. We're gonna make it." Nick gasped, helping me limp along the back alley behind a couple of buildings.

"So close," I whispered, my voice hoarse. My leg hurt badly, and we had no more med-kits. Hopefully, _hopefully _there was a saferoom up ahead, and we could patch up before getting across the bridge.

The familiar red barred door was in sight. Nick picked up speed, and I had a hard time keeping up, but I did. I had to. We were so close to finally getting out of this hellhole.

Nick yanked the door open and practically threw me in, the distant sound of a Charger floating on the wind. He followed me in and slammed the door shut, sliding down to the ground.

"We're almost there, Ellis." Nick breathed, the corners of his lips almost curling into a smile.

I couldn't stop myself from grinning after hearing him say my name. I hobbled over to him and sat down next to him, our knees brushing. He looked over at me, his jade green eyes glowing the afternoon light. His breathing was still ragged, his shoulders rising and falling with each inhale and exhale. He still had that almost-smile on his lips, and it was so goddamn attractive. Nick leaned over and pressed a kiss to my cheek, catching me off-guard.

"Hey Ellis?" Nick murmured.

"Yeah?"

"I love yo-"


	12. Chapter 12: The End

Chapter Twelve: The End

Nick stormed out of the room, pulling me back into reality. We weren't in the zombie apocalypse anymore. After we survived, Nick wanted to leave me, but CEDA forced him to stay. They made him stay with the one person who would hurt him the most, and I regretted every minute of living with him, because I loved him so much, it hurt me too.

**AN: **Alrighty, this is it. I'm done with this. I'm sorry I couldn't provide a better ending, but I've been rushing to get it done, and this was the best I could do… I'm better with one-shots, so maybe I'll do one with a happy ending next. Hope you enjoyed!


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